GE 269: How Klipfolio Gets 5K to 6K Trials Each Month Solely From Their Inbound Efforts (podcast)
With Allan Wille

Hey, Everyone! Today, I share the mic with Allan Wille, President and CEO of Klipfolio, a dashboard company that seeks to help other companies grow.

Tune in to hear how Klipfolio structures their pricing, how they function as a company, and how to earn customer loyalty.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[00:44] Before we jump into today’s interview, please leave a review and rating and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!

[01:24] Klipfolio is Allan’s second start-up business.

[02:07] Klipfolio targets small and mid-sized companies.

[02:21] The pricing structure is different from their competitors; they operate off of a transactional model.

[02:40] They have 10,000 customers and are aiming to have 200,000.

[03:03] All 10,000 are paying customers.

[03:23] The pricing model is based on resource usage.

[03:33] When you sing up, you will pay for the number of dashboards you have on your account.

[03:41] They used to charge per-user.

[04:40] If you are testing things in a live environment, you learn with accuracy what works and what does not.

[05:30] Their growth varies from year to year, but right now they have 95 employees.

[06:49] They have tested out prices from $19-49 to see what works best.

[07:23] The pricing tiers are based on the number of dashboards and resources being used.

[07:55] Everything is inbound, in terms of sales and marketing.

[08:30] SEO has been “super powerful” for Klipfolio.

[08:59] They get between 5000 and 6000 trial starts each month.

[10:24] No one customer can hold them hostage, so they are always developing for the greater good. No one client is bringing in such significant business that they have to drop what they’re doing to please one client.

[13:14] You can lose your product-market fit, so have your eyes open and read the signals.

[13:45] If there is no product-market fit, kill the product.

[15:00] Once you see product-market fit, it is as clear as day. When you are in the midst of development, it can be hard to see.

[15:32] To acquire your first 100 customers, Allan thinks the CEO, Founder, or VP of Products should be doing all the talking and selling.

[16:55] Having your senior employees engage in a lot of face time is a great way to sell and ensure the success of your product.

[17:28] You have to be close to those early customers, because they are invaluable in shaping what happens to your company. If you do this, they will remain loyal.

[17:51] The big struggle is always money.

[18:25] It’s key to have grit and a support system (like family) to get through the early days of a start-up.

[20:07] The senior level employees at Klipfolio did some things that Allan wouldn’t encourage.

[20:10] In order to pay their employees, one person sold their car, while Allan put a lot of things on credit.

[20:35] Looking back, they did what they had to do in order to succeed.

[21:10] Allan loves all aspects of his career, in spite of the hardships.

[21:43] Klipfolio has a healthy re-seller channel, which helps them with customer acquisition.

[21:49] They have close to 1000 re-sellers who contribute 35% to their revenue.

[22:08] It has proven to be a great way to get Klipfolio out into the world.

[23:54] Klipfolio likes tooling and automation, so some new tools that have been helpful are Salesloft, Marketo, Salesforce, and MixPanel.

[25:25] Allan recommends the books Start with Why and Lead with Greatness.

Disclaimer: As with any digital marketing campaign, your individual results may vary.

Allan Wille
Klipfolio

Eric Siu (@ericosiu) is the CEO at Single Grain, a digital marketing agency that focuses on paid advertising and content marketing. He contributes regularly to Entrepreneur Magazine, Fast Company, Forbes and more.